You were a child
Crawling on your knees toward him
Making momma so proud
But your voice is too loud
We like to watch you laughing
Picking insects off of plants
No time to think of consequences

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

The water is warm
But it's sending me shivers
A baby is born
Crying out for attention
Memories fade
Like looking through a fogged mirror
Decisions too
Decisions are made
Decisions are made and not bought
But I thought this wouldn't hurt a lot
I guess not

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted

401 Comments

My InterpretationMany had really good interpretations of the song!
heres mine.

I think this song is def of the stages of life. Your a child born so innocent in this world, with a beautiful smile that could make any parent proud. As you grow older you begin to lose your innocence & fall into societies ways. You begin to lose the meaning of whats important in life. & find that you learn from the world & especially learn from your parents,good & BAD. But the bad things you learn from those around you will only haunt you. To avoid this take only what you need from the world. Try your best not to become selfish as the rest of the world. I feel this songs represents a constant battle between good & bad, I feel like they're speaking from experience. Trying not to get sucked up into the worldy possessions & selfishness of this place. Its a reminder to only take what you need from the world around you, nothing more nothing less. Be happy with what is given to you or fall into a life of unhappiness & obstacles..try to live your life the best way that you can & be the best person that you can, weather your life be hard or easy remember not to become corrupted of the things around you.

Wish I could explain exactly what I feel but words cannot describe everything I think this song means..its a beautiful song & makes me tear everything I hear it..

beautiful, i thought the same thing. Kinda related......but it's really unfortunate that people don't do some inner thinking and find out what they truly want out of life. A lot of people don't express themselves to the full extent because they are afraid of the consequences. As a result, a lot of people join "cliques", become blissfully ignorant, and that's is where the mess begins. People are awesome, but they've managed to turn something so beautiful into a head case for some individuals. Life is full of learning, if we don't aspire to learn, we will never attain that close-to perfect feel we all want.

General CommentI could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this song is about that Shell Silverstein book The Giving Tree. I like thinking of it in terms of that -- it kind of gives that book this new element of sadness.

In the chorus of this song -- "Control yourself. Take only what you need from it." -- he's talking about the boy taking from the tree. Yada yada yada, etc, etc ,etc. You get the picture.

I've read that book a few times. It's my Mom's favorite book... it's very sad. I think that that theory could apply to "Control yourself, take only what you need from it..." But I still can't totally figure out "A family of trees wanted to be haunted..." Those are the only lyrics that still baffle me.

@Dang son yeah, I was listening to this song while working out yesterday and all of the sudden I thought of "The Giving Tree" and I thought the songwriter just MUST have meant to make that connection. Funny how I never caught it in the hundreds of times I've listened to this song before.

Anyway, I came here to see if anyone else thought there was a giving tree reference.

General CommentI was thinking that this song might be about human impact on the environment.

"We like to watch you laughing
Picking insects off of plants
No time to think of consequences"

I think these lines might be talking about how even the little things that we do, like killing insects for instance, effect the world around us more than we know (hence "no time to think of consequences")

"Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees falling, to be haunted"

It seems like they're talking about controlling yourself from taking more than you need from the earth. The family of trees falling line is giving a conspicuous example of how humans destroy ecosystems like rain forests on a regular basis.

"The water is warm, but it's sending me shivers" I think is eluding to pollution in earth's water bodies.

"Decisions are made and not bought
But I thought this wouldn't hurt a lot
I guess not"

Here I think they're eluding to the fact that humans, particularly people in power, make decisions that seem logical and beneficial in for humankind in the short term, but are often harmful to organisms and their environments in the long-term.

I think "it's a family of trees wantin' to be haunted" is about the trees wanting the human race to go extinct so the trees, nature, gaia, can live again with simply the memory and ghosts of humankind.

This is how I interpreted it myself, except for "the water's warm, but it's sending me shivers". My take on this is that "the water is warm" this is typically synonymous with "hey everyone is doing it, so come on in", we are all fat cows using and abusing this earth, destroying the forests, the forests are calling to be haunted, calling for spirits to haunt us out of them. He recognizes that (like I do). It sends me shivers.

I agree as well. Though, sometimes I get a sense of the song being about humans and their own families and how we use eachother to find our own path in life without thinking of the feelings of others or how it may effect the world. This song makes me think about how I am taking my own existence for granted; as many do.

I had a similar take on this, except I thought "the water is warm, but it's sending me shivers" was a reference to global warming. Why would warm water give you shivers? Because it's not supposed to be warm.

good heavens. the past two days i've been thinking about humands and how the only enemie we truely have is nature....i listen to alot of music and just today ive heard several songs that ive listened to for years and never understood the meanings and they all talk about it.

it makes me want to watch the matrix again cause i've heard people say the whole film is a massive work of art but i was too young to understand; just thought it was something cool lol. the only bit i remember properley is agent smith saying mankind is like a disease

I hope this is NOT what you wanted to say... it should be : the only enemy we have is the human being.
remind of the latin proverb " homo homini lupus' the human is a wolf to human. we write our own destiny, unlike less smart animals (and because they have less impact on their future).

NATURE IS NOT AN ANEMY TO THE HUMAN RACE BUT THE HUMAN RACE IS AN ENEMY TO BOTH, HUMAN RACE AND NATURE.

part of this song could be related to this, but what about the child then? crawling toward it?
it is not AS a child ( powerful CROs hungry for money in despite of environment) but you were a child. Nice lyrics because it touches every human...

I think you're right, because the song was played at the end of the documentary Tapped, which is about the impact people have on the environment when they use water bottles. I was watching the documentary, and found myself dancing to the song, and I don't dance lol. It was so funny!

Yes, I think this is the song's main theme…and I have an interpretation of trees wanting to be haunted:

Only old, majestic trees can be described as 'haunted'..think about it, nobody calls young trees haunted…..so the trees want to be conserved…so that they might be 'haunted' some day…a whole family of them, wanting to live.

Yes! Glad I finally found someone who agreed with me. I think this whole album (Oracular Spectacular) is about humans destroying the Earth. It's clearer in the ending with "Peices of what" (Pieces of what we used to call home, Earth is now destroyed and the peices are falling from the sky onto wherever they are, then "Of moons, birds, and monsters, "Dont you know about the temperature change?.....Or hoping that an unknown force will repair things for you")

Yes! Glad I finally found someone who agreed with me. I think this whole album (Oracular Spectacular) is about humans destroying the Earth. It's clearer in the ending with "Peices of what" (Pieces of what we used to call home, Earth is now destroyed and the peices are falling from the sky onto wherever they are, then "Of moons, birds, and monsters, "Dont you know about the temperature change?.....Or hoping that an unknown force will repair things for you")

You definitely have the most correct answer than anyone else has said in reference to the meaning of this song. I think most people are getting too caught up in the song title "kids" and taking some words/phrases so literal (the video also may have been misleading and have this hidden message in it as well). But, obviously MGMT want people to think OUTSIDE THE BOX.

So, to help further this theory of the meaning of the song being about how humans are destroying the world. HERE IT IS...

Everyone keeps asking "what about the part about the child crawling towards it"... We are ALL GOD'S (The Father) CHILDREN. Therefore, all humans are being referred to as "KIDS". The reference to "Making momma so proud but we're still too loud"... is to MOTHER EARTH. And, how she loves us but we're still disrupting her peace. Remember, the Creation of Adam (humans) was by God and Earth (dirt). Although, I do not believe The Bible is to be taken to literal... point is, scientifically that has some truth to it because when we die our physical bodies turn to dirt and therefore we return to the earth. While, (more than likely) our spirits return to the overall Universe.

God (The Energy/Creator/Spirit) is the Father and Earth (The Physical/Caregiver/Nature) is the Mother. While we live on this planet we are combined by the two and therefore are a product of their united love... we our their children.

"The water is warm but is sending me shivers" could also mean from Mother Earth's perception that we are warm (we're made up of 80% of water, at birth/infancy. 70% as adults and the inside of our bodies are hot) but we're hurting her or even she feared something bad could come from this so it was sending her shivers. But "a baby is born crying out for attention" so she tends to it, nurtures it and helps it grow by providing all the things here on earth for us humans to survive... this is her decision. It was made out of love, not bought. But she thought this wouldn't hurt a lot, but she was wrong because look at what we're doing to her now.

HIDDEN MESSAGE IN THE VIDEO THAT HELPS SUPPORT THIS THEORY: The only part where MGMT show up in the video, they are in surrounded by Trees (Nature). In the song, they are speaking as though they are God & Earth (the Parents) telling us to control ourselves and be mindful of our actions. Especially in that certain part of the song its as though its Mother Earth speaking... so they made sure they were surrounded by trees and nature, representing her.

The rest of the video was monsters... media... power... control... money... TV that doesn't help teach us the right values, so we have also became thirsty, greedy, ruthless creations. We're all becoming the same monsters that is fed to us on these outlets without even realizing it, even when we try opposing this wrong doing in society. We ALWAYS still contribute to it, because we take small actions everyday that still continue to help fed the monster. Eating meat from McDonalds & other food places, then we say we would never torture animals nor do we believe in it. Not recycling, so trash like plastic ends up in the ocean which kills our planet everyday. That's why the beginning quoted Mark Twain's quote "He who fights with monsters might take care lest and therefore become a monster... and if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you."

Also, we will eventually die and so will the Earth because of these decisions. The message in the video is simply to slow down and control ourselves (make wiser, deeper, more meaningful decisions), to help slow down this inevitable event. At the beginning of the video you see a sea of flames and fire... which it is thought that the world may end in fire. Possibly by nuclear war and bombs that can blow up most of the world. Or because of our eco-system and atmosphere being destroyed from our pollutions to the air and skies, the sun could eventually blaze the earth. Global warming. So, many ways we can end this world in fire due to our destruction of the earth. It also appears we're moving closer to the sun so this could also be the flames caused in event to this particular theory (of how the world will end) being prophesied. So, right at the beginning of the video while viewing the flames you hear someone say, "We're going to die".

Yes this is the meaning of the song. It is about controlling man kinds destruction of mother nature.

'The water is warm,
but it's sending me shivers.
" - refers to the global sea water increasing in temperature due to CO2 emissions that will eventually bring the ocean to a boil killing both the humans that started the pollution and every other living thing

of course the most important line is repeat a lot:

"Control yourself.
Take only what you need from it.
A family of trees wanting,
To be haunted.
"

Control ones actions and leave a minimal imprint on the environment. A family of trees wanting to be haunted. Think about it, a haunted house is a house that is rarely visited and not known about. This is how the rain Forrest would want to be viewed by humans, because humans come and slash and burn the whole forest without thinking.

@whir21 The thing about picking insects off of plants, for me, was also about how the little things kids do are so cute. Instead of thinking of consequences, they're curious. Like how kids'll look at the clouds or at lights. But then when you grow up, it's not cute coz it's a childish thing to do.
But I bet a lot of Americans would have a lot less stress if they took the time to just sit there like a kid when they have a break instead of checking their phone or the tv.
Either way it's bad for the environment, but that just makes the green movement futile - solar panels (or anything else) cannot make an unsustainable society somehow sustainable.

@whir21 The thing about picking insects off of plants, for me, was also about how the little things kids do are so cute. Instead of thinking of consequences, they're curious. Like how kids'll look at the clouds or at lights. But then when you grow up, it's not cute coz it's a childish thing to do.
But I bet a lot of Americans would have a lot less stress if they took the time to just sit there like a kid when they have a break instead of checking their phone or the tv.
Either way it's bad for the environment, but that just makes the green movement futile - solar panels (or anything else) cannot make an unsustainable society somehow sustainable.
The movie 12 monkeys has so many relevant quotes for this comment that you should really just check it out. And Fight Club.

General CommentI also thought this song was about life, and the diffrent stages. Clearly "crawling on your knees toward it"-represents an infant stage. But until I read the lyrics I always thought the lyrics were "Enjoy yourself take only what you need fom it"-As in enoy life take only what you need from it. But appariently its "control yourself" which I interpt as being greedy something out generation is all about. My take is that its all about being youn successful and following the American dream, in this process many people just caught up in money and success. than when "a baby is born"- it introduces another stage in life when it is no longer just about the success of ones self, but one maturing and the changes and realizations that take place when one has a family.
I really wish artists commented on this site.

They might be wasted as hell and might not. The point CaitySheabell makes is what I take from the song as well. Songwriters take whatever the hell makes them write better, and for some its sobriety. See the "25 of 6 to 4" debate about "Chicago". I think they were tripping while writing the song, as its a dual meaning song IMO, and some say it has nothing to do with drugs. Brilliant if Im right.
Might I add my favorite part of this song "A family of trees wanted to be haunted". aka Humans can be disgusting and if you let your ego take over. So "Control yourself"!

I agree with most of what you say. my thoughts on "You were a child crawling toward it making mom so proud" could possible mean that you were on your way, people praised you. "But your voice was too loud" maybe you got a big head by all the attention. "Control yourself take only what you need from it" Don't get too carried away, only take the attention and praise you need. "We like watching you laughing picking insects off plants" maybe ignoring the problem, shoving them away "No time to think of consequences" the problems will come back.

it could also be about absolutely nothing at all. maybe they just thought the words sounded good when they were sung. more singers write lyrical nonsense than you might realize. I didn't think many did until I started writing songs and working with different singers, but a lot of songs have no meaning or close to no meaning.

i personally belive the message is trying to portray human gluttony. When we are children we do not experience any consequences for our wrongs that will have a lasting effect on our life. So I think that when the song thus says "take only what you need", it's explaining not to take thing in excess when we do wehn we are children because our parents won't always be able to clean up our own mess.

General CommentThe chorus could well be referring to "inheritence", a "sins of the father" style thing.

If you take this as the kind words of a mother to her son then you essentially have her talking of how they "we like to watch you laughing" (mother+father)shared in the baby's young curiosity, and a layer of reticence about what was to come subsequently "no time to think of consequences" relating to their relationship/behaviour towards each other.

If you discount the chorus at first and lead straight into the second verse you have an undeniable sentiment that there have been bad decisions made, many without thinking. The memories of when the child was sparkling and new (warm water) are now sharpened to a shiver by what is know known and experienced. "I though this wouldn't hurt" could perhaps refer to bringing the child into the world.

This then angles the whole chorus as a slight on the father. Control yourself, take only from your father what you need (i.e. the strength, love, role model, father figure etc) leaving behind the failures and foibles. The "family of trees" is a play on words from "Family tree", probably probing at the idea that if you repeat the mistakes of the your own father - he'll haunt "your" tree too. A forlorn warning about how there are two sides to everything "warm" "a baby is born" can end up difficult "shiver" "crying out for attention".

I agree completely. Only I allege the meaning goes much deeper than just experiences with family. I think "take only what you need from it" refers to taking only what you need from every experience in life. It's about letting go of things, instead of being "haunted" like other people allow themselves to be. At least, that's my interpretation. I believe everyone's opinions about these things are generally colored by what they're experiencing at the time they listen. For me, favorite songs I've listened to for years will reveal different meanings to the words, the more I hear it.

Song MeaningPeople are reading into the lyrics superficially. Yes its about growing up but thats only part of it. You really need to watch the music video: youtube.com/….

The song is actually about bad parenting, esp in the case of a custody battle/divorce and the effects on a childs life and growing up with it. I wouldnt be surprised if members of mgmt had divorced parents. Why?
If you read the opening quote by Mark Twain "He who fights with monsters care lest he thereby become a monster" is a reference to bad parents as "monsters" that will eventually reflect unto their children. In the music video we see a careless, narcissistic mother. Notice the father figure is absent and she is living in a very nice house (devorce settlement). In every image society is seen as a monster, because in growing up with your closest family figure as a monster even regular people are now seen as the same. The car seat instead of something comforting is depicted as a cage. "control yourself take only what you need from it" is in references to controlling yourself and not fighting over the child and tearing them apart in the settlement. "A family of trees wanted, to be haunted", in trying to keep the child and have grandchildren, future generations of that family are scarred because the child is scarred in the fighting over him. The child is seen more like an object of possesion just like her phone and devorce-settlement-bought-car. Towards the end is a trip scene...probably a reference to divorce children driven to drugs, in the end the child is seen running to mgmt, a male father figure, or savior who ends up turning into a monster just the same and the child falls into abyss.

its also a recurring theme in MGMT songs, in time to pretend he talks of marrying models having children and then getting divorced. In the music video for kids the mother is a hot model archtype. Coincidence? i think not.

also i forgot to mention notice in the music video the woman's wedding rings are now on her right hand. The first stanza is in reference to parents being selfish: parents in the custody battle only see the things the child can provide for them not thinking of the consequences...

@dannyda1187 the quote is actually from Nietzsche. not sure why they misquoted it in the video. Mark twain was a contemporary of Nietzsche, so he may have repeated it in one of his works at one point. I think its more likely they misquoted for a reason, however. What that reason may be, though, i have no idea

My InterpretationIsn't the song about preserving the natural world for future generations?

It's genius is in the double meanings of every line... on one hand it is talking about a family tree and being a kid on the other it is talking about the environment...

The first verse is about how silly all of our social ideas are, i.e. making momma so proud...
but these are just childish things...
We are wasteful as children in pursuit of these things: "picking insects of plants/ no time to think of consequences" This Kid like behaviour is damaging to the environment(i.e. stop bugs from pollinating the earth due to climate change: see for example the honeybee epidemic facing the western world)

Therefore, we must grow up and "control ourselves" and "take only what we need" from the earth. The trees are wanting to be haunted because it is man who destroys them.

"The water is warm" but the thought that that is at the expense of polar ice caps melting and flooding land below sea level etc... is "sending shivers"
Then we get to the "baby is born." In which we are reminded that the human race will still carry on when the ice caps melt and bugs die etc... there will be a new generation of kids...a new part of the family tree...The trees in the chorus now become both literal trees and forests and also our descendents whose world we are destroying by taking more than we need...

and then it hurts a lot because the decisions about the future need to be "made" and the worry is that the "memories will fade" and the future generations will not learn from all of our mistakes and over consumption and "crying out for attention"...

General Commenti just want to comment on how much i love how everyones comment is somewhat unique. it really shows the awesome power of art. everyones individual interpretation is a look inside that persons personality and their experiences that cause them to express how a song makes them think and feel. you gain the perspective of a complete, true stranger whom youve never seen and somewhat get a sense of their virtues and imagination. hooray for art and the diversity that it encourages. its pretty remarkable. im sorry its just so hard to ignore such a phenomenon, i mean simply organized sounds to bring people together. wow.

My InterpretationWho are they asking to show themselves? International bankers? War profiteers? The elite class that belong to no country but the countries belong to them? Are they asking them to only take what they need? Are we the babies crying out for attention? We are being given that attention through entertainment and material possessions with no thought of consequence. We are crawling on our knees to get what we want which makes mother proud to see us succeed, but our wants and goals are decisions based on decisions, not decisions based on the archetypal constant thoughout human experience that guides us collectively. We are moving away from our connection with eachother. Our intereaction used to be tribal and based on us. Now they have become based on media/materials that are not neccesary but self indulgent leisure or power. I like to think that the trees wanting to be haunted is the opportunity to become so old that they will become haunted, instead of loud babies(us) harvesting more than we need before some of the oldest living things on earth have a chance to become haunted. Maybe the water is warm but it is toxic and causing him to shiver. The memories fade because with every passing generation our detachment from our Mother Earth becomes more normal and our increasingly toxic environment is becoming normal. When compared with something bad, something a little worse is not horrible, but to compare where we are now to where we were before the industrial revolution would shock the frog out of the slowly heated water before it boils. Descisions are made not bought? Maybe that we are so complacent that we no longer need to be bought. They can simply make the descisions without notice because we are too busy being entertained. If we don't know what is happening it shouldn't hurt a lot, but it does. I have no info to base my thoughts on, just my interpretation of this beautiful song. This song seems very open to varying interpretations. I think how you live is much more important than how you tell other people to live.